>>""Captains are not villains. Doctor Metropolis, then."

She nodded, raising her glass to the X-Man. ”Got me there. Most villains hold doctorates, don’t they?”

Another swig and Roxie could feel the effects of the alcohol coursing through her body. She was relaxing and after what she had just taken part in that was a pretty good feeling. But she wouldn’t get the quiet peace that she normally got when she drank alone. Rather she was engaging in conversation with a real-life hero and not only that, he was propositioning her. Not in that way, of course. though it isn’t like she would complain. He was a little younger than her but still had a fairly handsome face and the costume did accentuate certain…assets.

Bah. That was just the adrenaline talking, right? Just to prove that it meant nothing she draped her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck as she watched the other. He started to relate to her a story about his past, how he ended up in “The Mansion” which everyone knew, off the record, was the X-Men’s homebase. Apparently he got into it for a girl. Interesting. Well, if he wanted to expose that much of himself off the bat, why not a little more?

She inquired. How did it work out for him? Gawain was seemingly unprepared for the question was looked dumbfounded. It seemed he was used to questions about his job, the other X’s, even just the mansion in general, but not his past dalliances. Still, she had to hand it to him, he was a trooper.

>> "Yeah, I did, for a while. She got me to stay and everything, and then S... Cold Steel decided to train me. Well. Punch me, and then train me..."

A snort issued from between her lips as she swirled the contents of her drink. ”Sounds like quite the training regiment.”

She sighed. Really she knew in her heart that she wanted to help people but she didn’t think that the whole “team” thing was really for her. Then again, it seemed like it wasn’t for a lot of people who ended up joining, right? Lips pursed in thought as she took another careful sip. Finally she set it down and she glanced back to the other.

”Not saying yes…” she started. ”...but not saying no either. I’ll give you a hard maybe.”

It seemed so long ago now, the time when he moved into the Mansion and was a rookie under Sam's supervision. The training, the DR sessions, the stolen booze, Twyla... it had been ages and ages ago. How did he go from brat to X-team leader? If someone had told him back then, he would not have believed that he would fit either. And now the Mansion was his entire family.

>>”Sounds like quite the training regiment.”

"I was a bit of a brat." Gawain admitted with a smirk. It wasn't like Sam punched everyone for fun.

>>”Not saying yes...but not saying no either. I’ll give you a hard maybe.”

Gawain nodded and sipped his drink. A maybe was a start. It would have been a pity to walk away from Roxie and not hang out with her again.

"I'll do you one better. You said you need to figure your powers out, right? We have the resources to do that. Come pay a visit sometime, I'll give you the tour. You don't have to be a resident, or an X-man, to come and do some power training."

>>"I was a bit of a brat."

She smirked. Gawain certainly seemed like he was going to be the handful type of guy. The devil-may-care smile, the heroic disposition, it was enough to instantly make anyone think that he was trouble. Roxie could certainly see it, anyways. But it wasn’t as if the guy seemed like a total jerk. He was nice and he wanted to do the right thing. He may have been a brat before but now he was someone who ran into burning buildings and helped the innocent. However the X-Men trained their people, they certainly knew how to pull out the best in people -- at least from this example.

Despite all that, she was still a little ambivalent about joining some superhero team. Roxie tended to work best on her own. No one to tell her what was right and wrong. He she wanted to punch some guy’s face in for beating his kid, then she was going to it. That’s what made her unsure about all this -- limitations. Roxie wasn’t an egomaniac but she liked the freedom to do what she needed and live with the consequences if she had to. Hah, maybe she would form her own team made up of those who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty.

X-Force? She would make a mental note of that.

But, in the meantime, she wouldn’t say no. She was still unsure but Mirror was certainly the poster child for the X-Men. And if they could help her save more people, then it was a door she wasn’t fully going to close.

>>"I'll do you one better. You said you need to figure your powers out, right? We have the resources to do that. Come pay a visit sometime, I'll give you the tour. You don't have to be a resident, or an X-man, to come and do some power training."

Roxie mulled on this. Her expression was vacant as she stared ahead at the bar, not looking at Mirror and instead focusing on what was left of the alcohol in her glass. A few careful swirls of what was left, a sigh, and she set the glass down on the wood grain surface. Only after did she finally cast her gaze back up to meet his -- and she nodded. How could she say no to learning more about her abilities?

”Okay.” she confirmed. ”We have a deal.”

Roxie considered the offer for a while. Gawain could see the suspicion in her, but also the interest in the power training thing. And if she was genuine about helping people, she would just come around to the rest in her own time. The good ones always did. For now, Gawain was honest about his offer to help her figure out her powers. If her strength really was dependent on her built surroundings, that would be a fun challenge to replicate and measure.

>>”Okay. We have a deal.”

"Yesss! I win." Gawain grinned, downing the rest of his drink "... I mean, you can stop by any time. Or I can give you my number. Just please don't write it on a bathroom door somewhere. We have enough fans as it is."